13 of 40: king's bluff trail

Our second day of hiking found us hiking three trails. The first two, King's Bluff and Pedestal Rocks are a loop so if you want to hike both it's convenient. We hiked King's Bluff first, stopped at the trail head for lunch and then continued on to Pedestal Rocks.

These trails are not along the Buffalo River, but in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, a number of miles south of the BNR. However, we had read enough about these trails to rouse our interest and the scenic drive, even in the slight drizzle didn't hurt.

It was slightly drizzly when we started out so we fitted the kids with jackets and moved on out. Sections of the trail were quite muddy and the drizzle lasted mostly until we reached the bluff. It much not see much use because although the path was clear the foliage was in the way most of the time and more than one tick found its way on us (this was expected since we were hiking during tick season).

This trail is special (which you can see from the pictures) in that it takes you to the top of the waterfall and you get to walk on this amazingly large bluff. Due to the rainfall it was slippery and I was a bit paranoid about Ella and Roone (and me and Jesse!) being close to the fence. So we took a picture and then had them move back!

The sixth picture from the top Jesse was able to capture of the entire waterfall top to bottom. He told me later that he did it while I was not looking because of how he had to stretch his arm over the fence. It's a great picture, though, so I'm glad we have it.

We were the only ones on the trail that morning. We saw many cars and a handful of people at the trail head, but either they were on another part of the trail or chose to hike Pedestal Rocks first.

It was quite peaceful up there on the bluff and we hung out for a while. The overcast morning and slight drizzle were honestly nice because sun and heat would have made for a muggy morning. On our way off the bluff Roone heard the sound of more water and we saw another smaller waterfall opposite the King's Bluff Waterfall. For more details and directions check out this link.